Rain-shield for automobiles.



T. B.PB1TCHARD. RAIN SHIELD FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLLCATION FILED JAN. 8,1917.

1,260,577. Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

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. BAIN-SHIELD FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Specication of Letters Patent.

rarement laan as, rara..

Application med January s, 1917. serial radiatore.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, THOMAS B. PRITCHARD, a citizen of the United States,and resident of the city of Seattle, county of King, and State ofWashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rain-Shields for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rain shields for the wind shields ofautomobiles, or devices designed t0 protect thewind shield of automobiles in such manner as to keep the rain therefrom when driving. sothat the vision through the wind shield will not be interfered with.

The object of my invention is to provide a device for securing the aboveresults, which device shall be attachable and detachable so that itmaybe placed upon any 'shown my devicein the form of construction whichI now prefer.

Figure 1 is a side view .of a portion of an automobile showing the windshield and my device applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a front view of a portion of an automobile showing my devicein position thereto.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the arms by which the ends of theshield are supported.

Fig. 4 is a cross section through the upper portion of a wind shieldwith my device secured thereon.

In driving automobiles in rainy weather the'rain on the front or outerface of the wind shield obscures vision through this to such an extentas to often cause trouble. In my present invention I have produced adevice which is designed to be attached to and detached from a windshield as it may be needed and which protects the outer surface of thewind shield from the rain so that at all times there will beta zone. ofclear vision unaffected by the rain. The general construction of windshields of au'- "tomobiles follows certain standard lines.

The construction 'of my device is such that, without modification,except as to size of parte .and this only to a limited extent, it'

may be applied to or removed from, any of the standardmakes ofautomobiles.

Inl the drawings, 1 represents the side postv of the frame upon whichthe wind shield is mounted. 2 represents the upper section of the windshield, which is generally mounted so that it maybe turned upon pivots,as 20, to thereby assume different angles.'

The rain shield consists of a frame 3 having therein a sheet 30, oftransparent material. Preferably this sheet should be4 of thinCelluloid, as this is not as liable'to breakage as would be glass, and,in addition, is of much lighter weight. This frame maybe of any suitabletype ofconstruction. The construction shown consists of bars 31preferably of aluminum on account of its lightness, which are combinedwith bars 32 'of wood, between which the edges ofthe by which it may besecured to the upper horizontal bar of the upper section of thewindshield. These are hinged members and consist of a'plate 4 which issecured to the frame of the rain shield, and a spring bar 40 hingedthereto and shaped so that it may Abe sprung over the top bar of thewind shield and be securely held thereon against removal. These clips 40may, to al'certain extent, be placed upon the wind shield frame andremoved therefrom by, sliding, if this is desired. They should embracethe upper bar of the wind shield so as to hold the rain shield securelyagainst removal by the action of the wind thereon when the automobile isin motion.

In use, the rain shieldis supported at a projecting angle, which anglemay vary with circumstances. Two positions have been shown in Fig. l,one by full lines, the other by dotted lines. The means for supportingthis rain shield may vary. The means `lnow preferred by me are asfollows. At each end of the wind shield is employed a support consistingof a stout wire, or rod, which is bent so as to form an outwardlyextending Straight Sectio 5 an' @11d Stm 5.0, which isC bent backwardand upward at an angle corresponding approximatelylwith the angleassumed by the ram shield, and the other end of each rod is bent in suchmanner as to engage securely with the side ost 1 of the wind shieldsupporting frame. he outer or forward section 50 enters a slide within aguide or socket 33, carried by the end of the rain shield. When in usethere will ybe a strain u on the supporting arm sufficient to prevent slding within the socket 33 and yet such sliding may be securedwhendesired, by apply ing a little force to the bar.

The supporting arms 5 have a loop 51 formed therein, which loop is ofsuch size and shape as to tit snugly about and embrace the forward sideof the post 1. The

Irod within extends upwardly alongside of the post, as a section 52, atthe upper` end of which Nis a loop 53, formed therein, which engages andembraces the rear side of the post 1. The strain on the bar 5 isdownwardly and the relative position of the two straight sections 5 and52, when not under strain, is such that they make an acute angle witheach other. When applied to the post 1, this produces a tension V1n suchdirection as securely holds it in place thereon. By shiftin the positionof the supporting bars vertica ly upon the post 1 and also by shiftingthe outer end section 50, relative to the clip or guide 33, the positionof the rain shield may be varied, as has been indicated by the 'twopositions shown in Fig. 1, re pectively, by the solid and by the broken.

mes. v

ln using this4 device the operator has a narrow strip of the uppersection of the wind shield, consistin of the portion which'lies belowthe line of vision whichv istaligent to the lower edge of the rainshield, f'which is protected by the rain shield against accumulation ofrain thereon and consequently the vision through this section of thewind shield is not obscured b the rain. rlhis is suilicient to answer orall purposes. At the same time the vision ofthe driver through the otherportions of the wind shieldK and also through the body of the rainshield, is

not affected except by the rain thereon.

While this portion of the shield may be obscured byetherain there isalways a horizontal strip which is not affected by the rain. vlinconsequence, the driver never has his vision obscured entirely, but canobtain a clear view of what lies ahead of his machine.

Tests of this device have shown it to work I tacoma well under rainyconditions and at all speeds at which it is safe to drive an automobile.

What I claim as m invention is:

1. A rain shield or automobile wind shields comp-rising a protectiveplate, means for detachably hinging said plate to the upper part of thewind shield, a plate supgory-ting brace adapted by its rear end to beetachably secured to the wind shield frame and' to be verticallyadjustable thereon, the forward end of said'brace arm having anextension which is bent backward and up,

end section, the latter being adjustable' lengthwise therein.

3. A rain shield for automobile wind shields comprising a protectiveplate, means for hingedly securing said plate to the upper edge of thewind shield, a brace adapted to be detachably secured to the. windshield frame, said brace comprising a forwardly projecting arm, an endsection bent upward and back from the forward end thereof, and asecuring section bent to form clips em bracting opposite sides of thewind shield frame, and means for supporting said plate upon the upwardlybent end section.`

4. A rain shield for automobile wind shields comprising a protectiveplate. means for hingedly securing said plate to the upper edge of thewind shield, a resilient brace rod adapted to be detachably secured tothe wind Y shield frame, said brace comprising a forwardly projectingarm, an end section bent upward and back from the forward end thereof, aclipbent in the brace rod at the rear end of said arm and adapted toembrace the forward edge of the wind shield frame, and a second clipbent in the end of the brace rod and adapted to embrace the rear edge ofthe wind shield fra'me'above the first clip, and means for supportingsaid plate upon the upwardly bent end section.

Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 3 day of January, 1917.

THOMAS B. PRITCRD.

